U.S. patent application number 11/772014 was filed with the patent office on 2008-02-07 for press release distribution system.
Invention is credited to Justin Choi.
Application Number | 20080033815 11/772014 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38895118 |
Filed Date | 2008-02-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080033815 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Choi; Justin |
February 7, 2008 |
PRESS RELEASE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Abstract
A press release distribution system provides press release and
other news to forum sites as posts. The forum software that runs at
forum sites includes press release interface software or is adapted
to receive press release interface plug-in modules for interfacing
with the press release distribution system. The press release
interface software or plug-in module may also monitor and/or
analyze user data of forum members and/or forum activities of the
users. The monitored user data and forum activities may be provided
to the press release distribution system for analysis and
generation of user profiles. Using the result of the analysis
(e.g., user profiles), the press release distribution system can
target particular users or forums to direct the press releases,
news, or advertisements for most effective advertising
campaign.
Inventors: |
Choi; Justin; (Cerritos,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CHRISTIE, PARKER & HALE, LLP
PO BOX 7068
PASADENA
CA
91109-7068
US
|
Family ID: |
38895118 |
Appl. No.: |
11/772014 |
Filed: |
June 29, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60817771 |
Jun 29, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.54 ;
705/14.66; 705/14.73 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0256 20130101;
G06Q 30/0269 20130101; G06Q 30/0246 20130101; G06Q 30/00 20130101;
G06Q 30/0271 20130101; G06Q 30/0241 20130101; G06Q 30/0251
20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101; G06Q 30/0255 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/014 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Claims
1. A press release distribution system comprising: a distributor
module adapted to receive a press release, and to distribute the
press release to one or more forum sites over a network according
to relatedness between the press release and the one or more forum
sites; at least one input handler module adapted to receive the
press release from one or more advertisers, and to provide the
press release to the distributor module; and at least one press
release poster module adapted to run at respective said one or more
forum sites, to receive the press release over the network, and to
post the press release as a message at the respective said one or
more forum sites.
2. The press release distribution system of claim 1, wherein the
distributor module is adapted to provide the press release to one
or more users of the forum sites in accordance with at least one of
user data or user activities.
3. The press release distribution system of claim 1, further
adapted to receive, distribute and post at least one of news
regarding the one or more advertisers, an advertisement from the
one or more advertisers, messages related to the one or more
advertisers, or non-"press" events.
4. The press release distribution system of claim 1, wherein each
of the one or more forum sites comprises a forum software adapted
to run therein, and the at least one press release poster module
comprises a plug-in installed in the forum software.
5. The press release distribution system of claim 1, wherein the at
least one press release poster module comprises a monitor module
for monitoring user activities at the respective said one or more
forum sites to generate a user profile.
6. The press release distribution system of claim 5, wherein each
of the one or more forum sites includes a database of user data,
and the at least one press release poster module is further adapted
to analyze at least one of the user data or the user activities to
target the press release to one or more particular users.
7. The press release distribution system of claim 5, wherein the
user activities comprise at least one of message reading and
posting by a user, searches conducted by the user at said one or
more forum sites, or user account and profile information.
8. A method of distributing a press release to one or more forum
sites, the method comprising: receiving the press release from one
or more advertisers; distributing the press release to the one or
more forum sites over a network according to relatedness between
the press release and the one or more forum sites; and posting the
press release as a message at the one or more forum sites.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing the press
release to one or more particular users of the forum sites in
accordance with at least one of user data or user activities.
10. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving,
distributing and posting at least one of news regarding the one or
more advertisers, an advertisement from the one or more
advertisers, messages related to the one or more advertisers, or
non-"press" events.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising monitoring user
activities at the one or more forum sites to generate a user
profile.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the one or more forum
sites includes a database of user data, the method further
comprising analyzing at least one of the user data or the user
activities to target the press release to one or more particular
users.
13. A brand management system coupled to a plurality of web sites
over a communications network, the brand management system
comprising: a press release distribution system adapted to receive
a press release related to an advertiser and provide the press
release to one or more forum sites among the plurality of web sites
to post as a message, in accordance with relatedness between the
press release and the one or more forum sites; a brand monitoring
tool adapted to automatically monitor one or more of the web sites
for at least one keyword related to a particular brand or product
of the advertiser; and an advertisement directory system comprising
a directory of web sites that are likely to provide an effective
venue for one or more advertisements for the particular brand or
product.
14. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein said one or
more web sites further include one or more advertisement sites
suitable for placing the advertisements to be viewed by
consumers.
15. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein said one or
more web sites further include one or more popular sites to be
monitored for the particular brand or product.
16. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein the press
release distribution system is adapted to provide the press release
to one or more users of the forum sites in accordance with at least
one of user data or user activities.
17. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein the press
release distribution system is adapted to receive, distribute and
post at least one of news regarding the one or more advertisers, an
advertisement from the one or more advertisers, messages related to
the one or more advertisers, or non-"press" events.
18. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein each of the
one or more forum sites comprises a forum software adapted to run
therein, and the press release distribution system comprises at
least one press release poster installed in the forum software as a
plug-in.
19. The brand management system of claim 13, wherein the press
release distribution system is further adapted to monitor user
activities at the respective said one or more forum sites to
generate a user profile.
20. The brand management system of claim 19, wherein each of the
one or more forum sites includes a database of user data, and the
press release distribution system is further adapted to analyze at
least one of the user data or the user activities to target the
press release to one or more particular users.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/817,771 filed Jun. 29, 2006, the
entire content of which is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to online brand marketing and
monitoring.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Global computer networks, such as the Internet, are
increasingly being used for marketing and advertisements,
encroaching into advertising markets traditionally reserved for
printed media (e.g., newspapers and magazine) and/or television.
Online advertisements often appear on web sites or web pages of the
World Wide Web (WWW) in a form of banner ads, or the like. There
are also other web sites that are fan sites (or forum sites)
utilized for discussing particular interests or hobbies. These fan
sites normally consist of message forums and other venues for
disseminating information over the global computer networks, are
being used to portray certain products or brands in a positive or
negative light, and can be important sources of consumer feedback
for advertisers, manufacturers and consumers alike.
[0004] Since these fan sites tend to have smaller audiences, one
should advertise across many of them to reach a sizable market.
While this market is highly desirable, the problem is that one
needs to work through many different sites to reach the market.
Also, since each fan site typically requires a fee for placing an
advertisement, it is impractical or impossible to place
advertisements on each and every one of them. Therefore, the
advertisers, manufacturers or those seeking to reach the market
through the fan sites must select the right fan sites on which to
place their advertisements. Further, these sites tend to be less
professional than typical larger sites (Yahoo, CNN, etc.) that sell
ad spaces so it is desirable to have them fit into a set standard
for distributing and processing ads.
[0005] Due to a generally large number of fan sites available for
placing advertisements, it is often very difficult and time
consuming to select those relatively few fan sites to run
advertisements. For one thing, it is often difficult to identify
those fan sites that are frequented by a number of potential
customers. Further, it is even more difficult to measure the
effectiveness of the advertisements placed on any particular fan
site.
[0006] Such difficulties in identifying the target fan sites are
even more pronounced when the brands being advertised or marketed
are for a niche market such as the automotive aftermarket industry,
for example. The automotive aftermarket is already fragmented into
a number of different market segments such as parts for trucks,
sport compact cars, domestic performance cars, luxury SUVs, etc.
Therefore, it is not an easy task for an aftermarket manufacturer,
which is often a small or medium-sized business with limited
resources and marketing budget, to select one or more aftermarket
car enthusiast fan sites that will serve as an effective venue for
its marketing campaign.
[0007] Further, although these fan sites typically provide an
advertising tracking program, they generally only indicate how many
people saw the ad and how many people clicked on it without any
further information on ad effectiveness. In addition, the fan site
operator typically provides advertising tracking information once
in a while by sending an e-mail, for example, and the advertiser
has no way of validating their data. Therefore, it is very
difficult to quantitatively assess which site is truly better than
another site.
[0008] Further, since each site has its own paperwork and processes
for accepting ads and ad money, ranging from very formal to very
informal, an advertiser must spend extra time to track which
placement invoices should be coming for which sites and for how
long.
[0009] To further complicate the matter, the existing banner images
may not be ideal for all of the sites that the advertisements are
to be placed on. In this case, separate ads should be crafted for
certain specific sites, which makes tracking even more complicated
and the advertiser must keep track of which ads go to which sites.
In addition, when the advertiser's products change and/or a new
feature is added, the advertiser must re-do all of his advertising
banners to reflect the changes and resubmit them to the appropriate
sites. This may involve sending e-mails to all of the various site
owners.
[0010] Other problems associated with online advertisements and
marketing that prevent many businesses from effectively utilizing
the web for advertising brands or products include: 1) difficulty
in monitoring positive and negative comments on user forums, fan
sites and/or the like that can make noticeable impacts on sales, as
it is difficult and time consuming to monitor the thousands of user
forums and other sites on the web; 2) lack of advertisers'
knowledge or expertise in gauging the quality of the vendors' sites
and limited availability of tools for measuring the performance of
the online placements that are purchased, even when advertisers
want to diversify their ad spending and advertising on enthusiast
web sites; and 3) difficulty in monitoring unauthorized retailers
who sell fake products because small or medium-sized businesses
generally cannot afford to spend the time to monitor the entire web
for unauthorized dealers.
[0011] Therefore, it is desirable to provide tools that will
facilitate the advertisers, manufacturers or brand managers to
locate the most suitable fan sites that are frequented by the
target audience, and to monitor the effectiveness of any
advertisements that are placed on these fan sites. Further, it is
desirable to provide tools that can be used by the advertisers or
manufacturers to monitor dissemination of information regarding
their brand names or products over the global computer
networks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In one exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, a press release distribution system is used to provide
press releases, other news, advertisements, messages and/or
non-"press" events to the forum sites.
[0013] In one exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, the press release distribution system inserts or posts a
press release as a message at one or more forum sites.
[0014] In one exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, the press release distribution system interfaces with
the forum software that runs at each of the forum sites. The forum
software may have a built-in software for interfacing with the
press release distribution system or may be adapted to receive a
press release interface plug-in module for interfacing with the
press release distribution system.
[0015] In one exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, the component of the press release distribution system
that runs at respective forum sites, e.g., the press release
interface plug-in, generates a user profile (e.g., a marketing
profile) using user data and/or user activities at the forum such
as user reads and uploads.
[0016] In an exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, a press release distribution system includes a
distributor module adapted to receive a press release, and to
distribute the press release to one or more forum sites over a
network according to relatedness between the press release and the
one or more forum sites; at least one input handler module adapted
to receive the press release from one or more advertisers, and to
provide the press release to the distributor module; and at least
one press release poster module adapted to run at respective said
one or more forum sites, to receive the press release over the
network, and to post the press release as a message at the
respective said one or more forum sites.
[0017] In another exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, a method of distributing a press release to one or more
forum sites, is provided. The method includes: receiving the press
release from one or more advertisers; distributing the press
release to the one or more forum sites over a network according to
relatedness between the press release and the one or more forum
sites; and posting the press release as a message at the one or
more forum sites.
[0018] In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a brand
management system used to provide marketing and monitoring services
for brands or products over the global computer networks, includes
a press release distribution system.
[0019] In another exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, a brand management system coupled to a plurality of web
sites over a communications network, is provided. The brand
management system includes: a press release distribution system
adapted to receive a press release related to an advertiser and
provide the press release to one or more forum sites among the
plurality of web sites to post as a message, in accordance with
relatedness between the press release and the one or more forum
sites; a brand monitoring tool adapted to automatically monitor one
or more of the web sites for at least one keyword related to a
particular brand or product of the advertiser; and an advertisement
directory system comprising a directory of web sites that are
likely to provide an effective venue for one or more advertisements
for the particular brand or product.
[0020] These and other aspects of the invention will be more
readily comprehended in view of the discussion herein and
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a brand management
system coupled over the global computer networks to advertisers, ad
sites, monitored sites, consumers and dealers;
[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing components of the brand
management system of FIG. 1;
[0023] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of using
the brand management system for ad placement and tracking in an
exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a press release
distribution system coupled over the global computer networks to
advertisers and forum sites in an embodiment in accordance with the
present invention;
[0025] FIG. 5 is a conceptualized block diagram of the press
release distribution system of FIG. 4 in one embodiment according
to the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a screen shot of a forum site
home page in an embodiment in accordance with the present
invention; and
[0027] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the operation of the press
release distribution system in one embodiment in accordance with
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] Exemplary embodiments according to the present invention
provide a method and apparatus for facilitating targeted
advertising of various different brands and monitoring thereof,
over global computer networks, including distribution of press
releases. This application contains subject matter related to U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 11/359,003 filed Feb. 21, 2006, which
claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application
No. 60/654,163 filed on Feb. 18, 2005, the entire contents of both
of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0029] A brand management system or a brand monitoring and
marketing system in exemplary embodiments of the present invention
is a web-based application suite that provides businesses with the
tools necessary to monitor and market their brands online. The
system will provide the businesses with one or more of the tools
including, but not limited to, a brand monitoring tool, an ad
management tool, and a file management tool. The system can
aggregate existing tools and/or provide new tools and services that
are not currently available. The brand management system in one
embodiment also includes a press release distribution system, and a
number of press release interface software or plug-in modules
running at forum sites to interface with the press release
distribution system. The press release distribution system and the
press release interface software may together be also referred to
as a press release distribution system.
[0030] In an exemplary embodiment according to the present
invention, the brand management system includes an ad directory
system or an ad directory in a form of a web site to link the brand
advertisers or manufacturers to various different web sites that
are likely to provide an effective venue for marketing and
advertisements for particular market segments. The advertisers or
manufacturers can view (which can include logging in) the web page
on which the directory of web sites is placed, and select one or
more web sites based on their particular needs, in accordance with
the information provided in the directory.
[0031] The ad directory system can also be used to facilitate
distribution of the advertisements, tracking and monitoring of the
effectiveness of the advertisements, and transfer of advertisement
fees between the advertisers and the web site owners. The brand
management system can use a brand monitor including a bot to
monitor various different sites (e.g., popular forums, fan sites,
etc.) through a keyword search, for example,
[0032] The brand management system of the present invention
provides one or more of, without being limited to, the following
features: 1) identification of the sites that would be suitable or
ideal for the brands and/or products of interest, instead of
finding one site at a time; 2) quantitative assessment as to which
site is truly better than another site; 3) quantitative measurement
of ad effectiveness, by such information as how many customers
actually purchased products as a result of a particular
advertisement on a particular web site; 4) independent confirmation
of advertisement tracking data provided by the web site operators;
5) ability to create banner and/or other images that are suitable
or ideal for all of the sites on which the advertisements are
placed, because separate ads may be required for certain specific
sites, which makes tracking even more complicated since the
advertiser must keep track of which ads go to which sites; and 6)
saving the advertisers from having to re-do all of the advertising
banners to reflect the changes and resubmit them to the appropriate
sites, when the products change or a new feature is added.
[0033] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a brand management system 100 is
coupled to advertisers 103, and is coupled to monitored sites 110,
including ad sites 1 to N 104, 106, 108, over the global computer
networks 102. The monitored sites 110 also include popular sites
109 that are not necessarily ad sites. By way of example, the
popular sites may include large sites that are monitored but do not
have ad sales provided through the brand management system 100.
Consumers 112 (or computers thereof) are coupled to the ad sites 1
to N 104, 106, 108. The consumers generally would not directly
access the brand management system 100.
[0034] The brand management system 100 is used for monitoring and
marketing by one or more advertisers, for example, and may also be
referred to as a brand monitoring and marketing system herein. The
advertisers 103 represent one or more different advertisers,
manufacturers, dealers or brand marketers who are using the
services provided by the brand management system 100. Similarly,
the monitored sites 110 represent one or more sites that are
monitored by the brand management system 100 on behalf of the
advertisers 103.
[0035] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the brand management system 100
includes brand monitoring tools 200, an ad directory system 202, an
online payment system 204, and a file manager 210. The ad directory
system 202 includes an ad tracker 206, an ad generator 207 and an
ad distributor 208. In one embodiment, the brand management system
optionally includes a press release distribution system 400. The
box 400 representing the press release distribution system 400 is
shown in dotted lines because the press release distribution system
400 is optional. In addition, the press release distribution system
400 may be implemented in one or more other modules, such as the ad
tracker 206, the ad distributor 208 and/or the file manager 210.
Further, some of the components of the press release distribution
system 400, such as, for example, press release plug-ins shown in
FIG. 4 (or press release posters shown in FIG. 5) may be
implemented at the forum sites. separately from the rest of the
brand management system 100.
[0036] The brand monitoring tools 200 are used for monitoring the
user forums, fan sites, etc. to afford advertisers or manufacturers
an insight into how their products and/or brands are received or
perceived in the market, especially by the relevant online
community. The ad directory system 202 is for bringing together
sellers and buyers of online advertisements, and includes ad
tracking, ad generation and ad distributor features as follows. The
ad generator 207 can be used by the advertisers or manufacturers to
create or to modify online ads (e.g., including banners), while the
ad distributor 208 and the ad tracker 206 can be used to distribute
ads and to track effectiveness of ads, respectively. Alternatively,
the advertisers or manufacturers can submit their own pre-created
ads for distribution rather than using the ad generator 207.
[0037] By way of example, the ad directory system 202 facilitates
the advertisements by the manufacturers/distributors by enabling
them to create/submit/modify their own advertisements and placing
them on the advertisement directory of the ad directory system 202.
The advertisers may also post specific products and
quantities/inventories available for sale for each product, such
that transactions can be facilitated through the use of the brand
management system 100. Hence, the brand management system 100
brings the sellers and purchasers together in an online community
setting.
[0038] The transactions can be consummated through the use of the
online payment system 204. The users of the ad directory system 100
can, in addition to purchasing products from the
advertisers/manufacturers/distributors online, bid for products
online, such that the ad directory system 202 can be used for
advertising, selling, purchasing and/or bidding of various
different products having different prices and in different
quantities. All these transactions can be monitored using the ad
tracker 206 such that the effectiveness of the ads and/or ad
campaigns can be measured.
[0039] The file manager 210 can be used for online distribution of
information related to products or brands (e.g., images, brochures,
performance data, etc.) to the dealers and/or the consumers. Any
advertising fee transactions between the advertisers and ad site
owners can take place using the online payment system 204, for
example.
[0040] In other embodiments, the ad distributor 208 may also
distribute press releases as ad units, and the ad tracker 206 may
also track effectiveness of the press releases. In yet other
embodiments, the file manager 210 may also be used to distribute
the press releases. In still other embodiments, a separate press
releases distribution system is used as a part of the brand
management system 100 or as a separate system/module to receives
press releases and other news, and distribute them to the
advertisement sites (e.g., forum sites). One instance of such press
release distribution system is illustrated in FIG. 4, and described
in reference to FIGS. 4-6 below.
[0041] Search engine ranking, linked sites, eBay.RTM. postings, and
other negative or positive product comments on forums and other web
sites can have a dramatic impact on how a brand is perceived. This
negative or positive "press" can also directly affect sales. Hence,
in an exemplary embodiment, the brand management system 100
performs brand monitoring using the brand monitoring tools 200.
[0042] The brand monitoring tools 200 include a bot 201. The brand
monitoring tools 200 may also include one or more other tools known
to those skilled in the art. During brand monitoring, the bot is
used to automatically monitor certain web sites and web postings
for specific keywords. These keywords may appear as topics and/or
content of discussions in different online forums. They may also
appear as products for sale on Internet auction sites. Hence, the
bot can be used to monitor/track various different web sites and/or
web postings to search for particular keywords, brands, products,
advertiser identifications, etc. to monitor how the monitored
brands, products, etc. are characterized/perceived by the online
community. By way of example, the bot can be targeted to one or
more predetermined web sites. The user may also have flexibility to
tailor monitoring of various different web sites and postings to
fit his needs using the bot. The web sites searched can include one
or more of, but are not limited to, eBay.RTM. and other auction
site postings, Froogle.TM. posts, Epinions.RTM. posts, forum posts,
search engines, number of links to the manufacturer's web site,
Alexa.RTM. ranking, Google.RTM. Adwords.RTM., Overture.RTM.,
Groups, and the like.
[0043] EBAY.RTM. is a registered trademark of eBay Inc., a Delaware
corporation; FROOGLE.TM. is a trademark of Google Technology Inc.,
a California corporation; EPINIONS.RTM. is a registered trademark
of Epinions, Inc., a Delaware corporation; ALEXA.RTM. is a
registered trademark of Alexa Internet Corporation, a California
corporation; GOOGLE.RTM. and Adwords.RTM. are registered trademarks
of Google Inc., a Delaware corporation; and OVERTURE.RTM. is a
registered trademark of Overture Services, Inc. a Delaware
corporation.
[0044] The advertiser, such as a brand owner and/or a product
manufacturer, can select which keywords, trademarks, and phrases
are relevant to their businesses. The advertiser can be given links
to any posts that contain these keywords. This feature can be used,
for example, to give the marketing manager an instant overview of
the web activity that their brand is generating. For example, the
marketing managers can have, all on one screen, a summary of
Internet activities relevant to their brand.
[0045] The bot of the brand monitoring tools 200 should be more
sophisticated than a normal bot, and should be used for checking
Internet activities. In one embodiment, the bot is able to navigate
web sites that require users to log in to the web site. In this
embodiment, the bot is also able to look for specific data on each
web page. Further, the bot is a programmable bot that can be
customized for each site being monitored.
[0046] In one embodiment, the bot reports indexing failures to
indicate changes to the web sites that may cause the bot to fail.
"Behaviors" are programmed into the bot as many of these web sites
have rules designed to exclude bots from using specific features on
their sites. For example, some forums do not allow more than one
search every 20 seconds to avoid bots overloading their servers.
Those skilled in the art would know how to create/program a bot
having one or more of the above features according to exemplary
embodiments.
[0047] The ad directory system 202, which may also be referred to
as an ad directory, of the brand management system 100 provides
manufacturers or advertisers with a large directory of web sites
related to a particular brand, such as top automotive enthusiast
web sites. The manufacturers or advertisers can select web sites
that they wish to advertise their brands or products on, using a
system similar to an online shopping cart.
[0048] By aggregating and organizing these sites, the brand
management system will enable advertisers to quickly create and
manage ad campaigns across multiple web sites. For web sites
selling advertising spaces, the ad directory system 202 will enable
them to post their site information, ad programs, audience type,
and ad rates. These enthusiast sites will have the option of having
their traffic audited for an additional monthly fee. Such auditing
process can be automated through an automated digital tracking
system (e.g., pixeling), for example. These sites can be specially
marked, for example, to indicate that their traffic has been
audited.
[0049] Advertisers or manufacturers should be able to view these
enthusiast sites by site type (e.g., make/model) and easily select
multiple ad placements to create an online media buy. Web sites
selling their placements through the brand management system 100
should be able to review requested placements and ads submitted by
manufacturers. Once an ad placement is accepted by a particular web
site, the brand management system 100 will automatically place the
ad on that particular web site. The ad distributor 208 manages ad
distribution, and the ad tracker 206 manages detailed ad
tracking.
[0050] The ad tracker 206, which may also be referred to as an ad
tracking system, would enable advertisers to easily track a variety
of data per ad or per placement. Advertisers would be able to track
information including contact form submissions, orders, number of
shopping carts started, product pages viewed, and the like.
[0051] The ad generator 207, which may also be referred to as an ad
generation system or an ad creation system, is a tool that can be
used to generate ads that are suitable for all ad sites. The ad
generator 207 can also be used to generate two or more ads, each of
which is suitable for placement on one or more specific sites. In
addition, the ad generator 207 can be used to convert existing ads
on printed media to banner or other ads suitable for placement on
web pages.
[0052] The ad distributor 208, which may also be referred to as an
ad distribution system, provides the advertiser with the ability to
remove and/or replace ads. Advertisers could also run multiple ads
in rotation in one single placement. Optionally, advertisers may
have the brand management system automatically disable the less
effective one or more ads of a plurality of ads. Advertisers would
be able to set which factor they wish to use in evaluating
effectiveness including click-thrus, orders, contact form
submissions, and/or the like.
[0053] In addition to traditional banner placements, the brand
management system 100, or the ad distributor 208 thereof, will
enable advertisers to distribute online press releases, or choose
keyword-related placements tied to text or image ads on the ad
sites, which may be enthusiast sites.
[0054] An online media buy may include dozens of web sites, so
organizing and tracking these payments online will be important for
advertisers. The brand management system 100 can process the
transactions for the placement fees through its online payment
system 204 using a model similar to that of an application service
provider (ASP) model. By way of example, monthly fees may be
charged by the ad sites through the online payment system 204 for
placing advertisements. Advertiser/site feedback may also be
incorporated into the brand management system 100. The online
payment system 204 can also be used by the advertisers and/or the
ad sites to pay for services provided by the brand management
system 100.
[0055] A model similar to the ASP model can also be used between
the advertisers and/or ad sites and the brand management system
100. By way of example, a model similar to the ASP can be used to
implement the transactions between the advertisers and/or the ad
sites and the brand management system 100. This way, the brand
management system 100 can charge a monthly access fee to the
advertisers and/or ad sites for buying and selling of ad
spaces.
[0056] There are at least two fees that are associated with the
brand management system of the present invention. A first fee is an
access fee to access the system for brand monitoring and to access
ad directory. The access fee can be a monthly ASP style fee, and it
is conceivable that some customers may only pay this monthly access
fee but not buy any ads. The online payment system 204 is used to
pay for the placement of the ads. The operator of the brand
management system, for example, may keep a percentage of revenue
generated through all of the transactions involving purchasing ad
spaces and placing ads.
[0057] According to FIG. 3, the advertiser or manufacturer first
accesses the ad directory system (300). The ad directory system
contains information on available ad sites corresponding to the
products or brands of interest. The advertiser or manufacturer
selects ad sites based on the site type (e.g., catering to the
specific industry) and/or the like (302).
[0058] The advertiser or manufacturer may already have available
ads, or they may wish to modify existing ads and/or create new ads
using the tools available in the brand management system, such as
the ad generator 207 (304). After selection of the ad sites and the
creation/submission of the ads, a payment is arranged (305), for
example, through the online payment system 204. Then, the ads are
distributed to the selected ad sites (306). The effectiveness of
the ads can be tracked (308) using the ad tracker 206, for example.
The ad campaign can then be adjusted (310) using factors such as
effectiveness of the various different ad sites.
[0059] Further, advertisers or manufactures can gain detailed
tracking information by using the brand management system 100. By
way of example, a total summary for the campaign may show total
clicks, total impressions, click-through rates (CTR) and total user
actions, all of which can be tracked, such that ads can be tied to
some user activity such as a dealer search, product page view,
contact form submission, or an online order. This way, one or more
user activities associated with the advertisements can be
tracked/monitored.
[0060] In addition, manufacturers or advertisers can distribute ads
evenly or remove ineffective ads after so many days or after so
many impressions. Further, the advertisers or manufactures can
remove or edit existing ads or generate new ads. This way,
advertisers or manufactures can quickly change ads on multiple
sites, run multiple ads in one placement, run different ads based
on time of day, and/or remove ineffective ads without having to
resubmit the ads manually to multiple site owners.
[0061] Currently, product images, documents, and data are typically
distributed by burning the data onto CD-ROMs as their dealers
request them. By moving this functionality online, the manufacturer
will gain several benefits including, but not limited to, reduced
labor costs associated with distributing materials to dealers and
media and reduced CD media and postage costs.
[0062] The file manager 210 is a part of a suite of tools (i.e.,
the brand management system 100) that address the common needs of
advertisers or manufacturers, such as the automotive aftermarket
industry.
[0063] The file manager 210 should enable advertisers or
manufacturers to do one or more of, but not limited to, the
following: 1) upload various documents and images; 2) upload large
images and automatically have "thumbnail" previews created; 3)
organize documents and images into categories and/or subcategories;
4) establish access rights depending on user type; 5) track
downloads by user and by file; and 6) provide news/updates to
dealers.
[0064] Further, the file manager 210 should enable manufacturers'
dealers to do one or more of, but not limited to, the following: 1)
view thumbnails of images (created automatically by the system); 2)
search for files by a keyword; 3) browse files by
category/subcategory; 4) select multiple files or download entire
categories of files; and 5) quickly see new files uploaded since
the last login.
[0065] While the present application has been described mainly in
reference to the automotive aftermarket, the directory system in
exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be applied to
any suitable market with strong enthusiast following online. The
sites and market segments having such strong enthusiast following
online, may include wedding sites, golf, professional wrestling,
and the like.
[0066] As discussed above, in embodiments in accordance with the
present invention, the following strategy is used, for example, for
brand monitoring, marketing and management: 1) A large number of
small automotive forums (publishers) are aggregated into one
automotive network; 2) The clients are enabled to easily create
online ad campaigns by selecting various publishers; 3) The
advertisers are enabled to upload, distribute, and track ad banners
across these publishers; 4) The brand monitoring and marketing
system will automatically monitor posts on these sites to see if
anything negative or positive is said about the advertiser; and 5)
Other online services will be provided to advertisers through the
brand monitoring and marketing system (e.g., e-commerce, etc.).
[0067] In another embodiment in accordance with the present
invention, a press release distribution system is used to inject or
post press releases into the forum. The press releases can include
text, video, graphics, images, multimedia, programming, and/or any
other suitable information as those skilled in the art would
appreciate. Here, each of the press releases may be viewed or
referred to as an ad unit that can be embedded into the forums.
[0068] As shown in FIG. 4, a press release (PR) distribution system
400 in an embodiment in accordance with the present invention, is
coupled to advertisers 403 and forum sites 1 to N (410, 420, 430),
wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 3. In the
described embodiment, there is no limit to the number of forum
sites that the press release distribution system 400 is coupled
with. The press release distribution system 400 receives press
releases, news feed and/or Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed
over a network 402, which may be a global computer network or the
Internet, or any other suitable network known to those skilled in
the art. The press release distribution system 400 may be a part of
a brand management system 100, or may be a standard alone system.
Such stand alone press release distribution system may be coupled
or not coupled with the brand management system 100. One embodiment
of the press release system 400 may be referred to as
POSTRELEASE.TM., which is a trademark of CIE Studios, LLC, Long
Beach, Calif.
[0069] In the example depicted in FIG. 4, the press release
distribution system 400 receives press releases from the
advertisers 403. In other embodiments, the press release
distribution system 400 may receive the press releases in any other
suitable manner over the network 402 or otherwise. Further, the
news and RSS feeds may be provided using any suitable method over
the network 402 or otherwise, as those skilled in the art would
appreciate. Any advertisements including text and/or graphics can
also be distributed and posted directly into forums using the press
release distribution system 400, of course. The press releases are
posted on (or inserted into) the forum (or forum site) as a message
or an announcement. The "message" may also be referred to as a
"post" throughout this specification. Further, the "message" is not
limited to text, but may also include one or more of images, video,
web site code, Flash, or any other suitable information or
data.
[0070] As can be seen in FIG. 4, one or more users 440 (i.e.,
computers or other network devices thereof) are also coupled to the
forum sites 1-N (410, 420, 430) via the network 402. The users 440
are consumers who may be members or users of the forum sites 1-N.
The press releases posted on the forum sites 1-N will be read by
the users 440 of the corresponding forum sites. The users 440
upload posts at the forum sites, and also read the posts of
interest from the forum sites. These user activities can be used or
analyzed to generate personal/marketing profiles for the users.
While only one box 400 is used to designate the users in FIG. 4,
the users of course can be located at multiple different locations
(e.g., across the globe).
[0071] The press release distribution system 400 may be included in
the brand management system 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, or
implemented as a system separate from the brand management system
100 on the same or different server from that of the brand
management system 100. In other embodiments, the features and
functions of the press release distribution system 400 are
implemented in other modules of the brand management system 100,
such as the ad tracker 206, the ad distributor 208 and/or the file
manager 210.
[0072] The forum site 1 (410) runs forum software 412; the forum
site 2 (420) runs forum software 422; and the forum site N (430)
runs forum software 432. The forum software 412, 422 and 432
respectively have installed therein, respective press release (PR)
plug-ins (or plug-in modules) 414, 424 and 434. The press release
plug-ins may also be referred to as press release interface
plug-ins herein. The forum software may be VBulletin or any other
forum software available to those skilled in the art. Those skilled
in the art would appreciate that the plug-in modules are designed
and developed to work with one or more desired forum software. The
press release plug-in module receives the press releases and/or
other news from the press release distribution system 400, and
posts the received press releases and/or other news on the
corresponding forum site. Alternatively, the press release
distribution system 400 and the press release plug-ins may together
also be referred to as a press release distribution system.
[0073] Each of the forum sites 1 to N (410, 420, 430) also includes
a respective one of databases 415, 425 and 435. The database
includes user data, e.g., name, birth date/age, gender, occupation,
address, e-mail address, phone number, and/or any other personal
data required (or optionally requested) by the forum site for
registration as a member. The database also includes the forum
postings, traffic and forum activities, and may also include
history and/or archive of the forum postings, traffic and forum
activities. The forum activities may include the activities of the
users/members while logged onto the forum site, such as the posts
downloaded/read and posts written/uploaded by the users.
[0074] In one embodiment, the press release plug-in module is used
to monitor the posts, user information, user behavior, and/or other
forum activity at the corresponding forum site. By way of example,
most forum sites require that the users be registered as members in
order to post on forums, while non-registered users can still view
the site and posts thereon. Also, most forums are broken down by
topic areas. Further, the registration process on many forums
including nearly all automotive forums require age information and
optional location, occupation, and other personal data. The press
release plug-in in one embodiment uses such personal data and by
tracking the content of each message the user posts and reads, to
develop a marketing profile for that user. Further, almost every
forum has a search feature or function, and the search activity of
the user (e.g., search terms or keywords used by the user during
the search) can also be used to create user profile. As such, the
plug-in module in one embodiment monitors the forum activity of the
user and uses that information to create a marketing profile (or
user profile) and then deliver ads against that profile for a
targeted advertising. By way of example, in one embodiment, the
marketing profile (or user profile) can be created by analyzing the
posts/messages that the user reads, the posts/messages that the
user creates, and/or the profile information the user entered when
the user created his/her account on the forum.
[0075] By way of example, if someone is viewing a post thread about
wheels and he responds to the thread, the press release plug-in
module can be used to determine that that particular user may have
an interest in wheels, and deliver wheel ads to that user.
Alternatively, the press release plug-in module may provide the
user activity information to the press release distribution system
400 for such analysis/determination. As such, in the described
embodiment, the press release distribution system 400 is integrated
into existing forum sites using the press release plug-in modules,
rather than sites specifically developed for operating with the
press release distribution system. Hence, the press release
distribution system 400 draws existing data from forums (i.e.,
mines already existing data) that are generated by user activities
on forums. To get these forum sites to join the network of press
release distribution system 400, a revenue sharing may be
instituted, in which the press release distribution system 400
delivers ads and shares revenue, as many of these forum sites,
despite having great traffic, typically need help to generate
revenue from the traffic.
[0076] In other embodiments, the forum software may already include
a press release interface module for receiving and posting press
releases from the press release distribution system 400 and for
monitoring user data and forum activity thereof, such that a
separate plug-in module is not necessary. Hence, while the press
release interface plug-in module is installed separately by the
forum site owner, the site owner needs only install the forum
software when it already includes the features and functions of the
press release interface plug-in module.
[0077] The press release distribution system 400 in one embodiment
limits the time period during which particular press releases are
posted at one or more forums. Further, in one embodiment, the press
release distribution system 400 (either alone or together with the
forum software and/or the press release interface plug-in module)
limits the frequency at which the press releases are displayed for
each user. The press release distribution system 400 in one
embodiment also tracks the result (i.e., effectiveness) of the
press release distribution campaigns.
[0078] As shown in FIG. 4, therefore, press releases, news and/or
advertisements from/related to the advertisers 403 of particular
brand or product can be directed to particular one or more forum
sites in accordance with the relationship or relatedness between
the press releases, news, advertisements, advertisers, brand,
product and the forum sites. By way of example, press releases,
advertisement, etc. from aftermarket automotive parts manufacturers
will be directed to forum sites of auto enthusiasts and press
releases, advertisements, etc. from golf club manufacturers will be
directed to golf enthusiast forum sites. Further, in one
embodiment, the press releases, advertisements, news, etc. are
directed to one or more particular users/members of the forum sites
in accordance with the user profiles and/or user activities at the
forum site. By way of example, a user actively reading or uploading
on threads on multi-function cellular phones will be targeted to be
provided with press releases and/or advertisements from cellular
phone manufacturers.
[0079] FIG. 5 is a conceptual block diagram of the press release
distribution system 400 of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, the press
release distribution system includes a press release handler module
(or press release handler) 450, a news feed handler module (or news
feed handler) 452 and an rss feed handler module (or rss feed
handler) 454 for receiving and handling press releases, news feed,
and rss feed, respectively. The press release handler module 450,
the news feed handler module 452 and the rss feed handler module,
either together or separately, may also be referred to as an input
handler or input handler module. The term "module" is used
throughout this specification to refer to any hardware, software,
firmware, application, tool, widget, plug-in, any other suitable
processing apparatus or method known to those skilled in the art to
implement the described functions, or any combinations thereof.
[0080] The press release distribution system 400 also includes a
distributor/controller module 460 (to be referred to hereinafter as
"distributor" or "distributor module") 460. The distributor module
460 receives the press releases, news feed and rss feed, and
provide them to one or more press release poster/monitor modules
(to be referred to hereinafter as "press release posters" or "press
release poster modules") 470, 472, 474 to be posted at the
respective forum sites. In one embodiment, each of the press
release poster modules 470, 472 and 474 posts or inserts the press
releases as a message on the forum (or forum site). In one
embodiment, the press release poster modules 470, 472, 474 are
implemented as plug-ins, such as the PR interface plug-ins 414, 424
and 434 of FIG. 4.
[0081] In addition to posting the press releases, news feed, and
rss feed, the press release poster modules 470, 472, 474 monitor
user data and/or forum activities of one or more users at
respective forum sites. The press release poster module 470, 472 or
474 may analyze the user data and/or forum activity data.
Alternatively or in addition to the analysis of the user data
and/or forum activity data in the press release poster modules 470,
472, 474, in one embodiment, the distributor module 460 analyzes
the user data and/or the forum activities. The distributor module
460 may also receive the result of the analysis of one or more of
the press release poster modules 470, 472 or 474, and further
analyze such analysis result. Then the distributor module 460 uses
the analysis result to target the user/forum site to direct the
press releases, news, advertisements, messages and/or non-"press"
events. Therefore, in one embodiment, the distributor module 460
analyzes or further analyzes the user/forum activity data, and/or
controls providing press releases, news, rss feed, messages,
non-"press" events, and/or advertisements to the forum sites and/or
the users. The press release poster modules 470, 472 and 474 are
not limited to posting press releases and/or monitoring the user
data/forum activities, but may be used to post other information
such as, for example, advertisements, other news, messages and/or
non-"press" events, or any other information suitable for posting
on one or more forum sites.
[0082] As can be seen in the schematic view of a screen shot of a
forum site home page 500 in FIG. 6, the home page of a forum site
typically includes a forum name 504 and one or more banner ads 502,
506. The home page typically displays one or more posts 510 posted
by the members of the forum. Such posts may include threads
initiated by a particular posting or postings. The home page 500
also displays a press release 508, which is displayed with a
background color (e.g., red) different from that of the member
posts 510. This way, press releases from the advertisers 403 can be
brought to the immediate attention of the forum member. In other
embodiments, the press release post (or the alert thereof) may be
displayed with other background color, distinguishing font and/or
text format (e.g., bold text) as those skilled in the art would
appreciate. Such press releases can be viewed and referred to as ad
units in the described embodiment, and may be effective
advertisements directed at particular forum sites, and/or
particular members or users. While the press release 508 is shown
as an announcement in FIG. 6, the press release 508 may be posted
or inserted as a message in other embodiments.
[0083] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram showing an operation of
the press release distribution system in one embodiment in
accordance with the present invention. The flow diagram of FIG. 7
will be described in reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 7. The press
release distribution system 400 first receives a press release or
news (600). The press release may have originated from one of the
advertisers 403 who desires to use the press release as an
advertisement to be distributed to the forum sites of interest. By
way of example, the advertiser may be a manufacturer of after
market auto parts who desires to distribute a press release
regarding a scheduled release of a new product to the auto
enthusiast fan or forum sites. The press release distribution
system 400 may also receive news or RSS feed relevant to one or
more of its associated forum sites 1-N (410, 420, 430), and
distribute the news or other information to the forum sites and/or
users/members of the forum sites.
[0084] The press release distribution system 400 then distributes
the press release or news to the relevant forum sites (602). The
press release interface plug-in (414, 424 or 434) in the forum
software (412, 422 or 432) of these forum sites posts such press
release or news at the forum to be viewed by the members and
visitors of the forum site.
[0085] The press release plug-in module also monitors user data
(e.g., stored in the database 415, 425 or 435) or the respective
forum site (604). Such user data is gathered from the users/members
by the forum sites at the time of registration or at any other
suitable time. The database at the forum site also includes
information regarding user activities. By way of example, the
database may include such forum activities as reading the posts (or
threads thereof) or writing posts onto the forum sites. The press
release plug-in also monitors these forum activities of one or more
users/members (605). The monitored information may be gathered and
analyzed by the press release plug-in and/or may be provided to the
press release distribution system to be analyzed to generate user
profiles (606). Based on such user profiles, the press release
distribution system can target particular forum sites and/or
members thereof to direct the press releases, news and/or
advertisements (608). Hence, based on the user profiles, particular
press releases, advertisements and/or news can be directed (or
provided) to the particular forums and/or users (610).
[0086] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described
above in detail and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be
understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not
restrictive of the broad invention. It will thus be recognized that
various modifications may be made to the illustrated and other
embodiments of the invention described above, without departing
from the broad inventive scope thereof. In view of the above it
will be understood that the invention is not limited to the
particular embodiments or arrangements disclosed, but is rather
intended to cover any changes, adaptations or modifications which
are within the scope and spirit of the invention.
* * * * *